2D to 3D - Graphical Mind Games

It would seem that retro gaming is the main reason to softmod the original Xbox. I myself retro game often, sometimes going weeks without seeing a modern 3D game. I seemed to of accidentally proposed an experiment on myself. The other day I had been playing a 16-bit hockey game and later purchased a ESPN NHL 2K5. Although the game is dated by today's standards or so my mind played a trick on me because the game looked absolutely amazing.

The 16-bit game was NHL '94 for the Sega Genesis/Mega Drive and I was enjoying it, when I switched to NHL 2K5 it was like a next-gen launch title. A great contrast in experience, a 10 year jump in visuals and flawless animation. NHL 2K5 came alive as if I had never played it. The animation was astounding as if I were controlling actual hockey players.

It's definitely a mind game, like when your at a theme park riding roller coasters all day and then get home and take a seat and the roller coaster momentum is still inside you. Coming from 2D land you'll really appreciate modern gaming. I think it's best when done on games with the same similarities like sports games. Same thing occurred when playing Street Fighter II Turbo via SNES emulator then I switched over to the official arcade version and noticed a leap in graphics. You might never know how much of a downgrade the SNES version is to the original arcade port.